GARBLED TEXT MESSAGE A SIGN OF STROKE

Difficulty or inability to write a coherent text message, even in people who have no problem speaking, may become a "vital" tool in diagnosing a type of crippling stroke, according to a new research. Scientists at Henry Ford Hospital focused on a 40-year-old man visiting the metro Detroit area on business who showed signs of "dystextia," a recently coined term for incoherent text messaging that can sometimes be confused with autocorrect garble. But in his case, the man saw nothing wrong with the garble. The patient had no problem with a routine bedside test of his language abilities - including fluency of speech, reading, writing, comprehension and other factors. However, when asked to type a simple text message, he not only produced garble, but he was unable to see it as such. Despite showing only slight facial asymmetry and no other symptoms, doctors determined the man had suffered an acute ischemic stroke, in which a clot or other blockage cuts off blood supply to part of the brain. Such strokes usually result in some form of physical impairment and can be fatal. Omran Kaskar, lead author of the research, said it illustrates how dystextia can be the only symptom of stroke-related aphasia - a partial or sometimes total inability to form or understand language. "Besides the time-honoured tests we use to determine aphasia in diagnosing stroke, checking for dystextia may well become a vital tool in making such a determination," Kaskar said. "Because text messages are always time-stamped when they're sent they may also help establish when the stroke symptoms were at least present or even when they began," Kaskar added. The patient described in the Henry Ford research report had sent a message to his wife shortly after midnight the night before he went to the hospital. She described it as "disjointed, non-fluent, and incomprehensible." Once it was determined that the man had suffered an acute ischemic stroke, the doctors concluded that checking for dystextia may become a vitally important diagnostic tool, particularly for patients who show no other clear symptoms.